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Hinton takes home points championship By DON HUNT WHITE CITY - Jay Hinton, Jr., went into the stock car racing season merely hoping to be competitive in the modified division. Saturday night at the Southern Oregon Speedway, he walked off with the points championship in the season's final race. Hinton won just twice all summer - in the season-opening race on April 21 and the Art Pollard Memorial on May 26. But the 32-year-old Medford resident was a model of consistency, finishing every race and finishing in the top 10 all but once. He wound up sixth Saturday, and that was just good enough to hold off Dan Estremado and Dennis Silva, who finished second and third in points, respectively. Markey James, who turns 60 in November, won Saturday's modified main event. "Staying out of trouble was the key for me," Hinton said. "Those DNFs (did not finish) are what kill you. "My goal at the start of the year was to just stay competitive, but then I won that season-opener and everything changed." At the start of the race Saturday, Hinton led Silva by only 12 points, and that meant he had to stay within four places of Silva during the 25-lap event. And for a while, it didn't look like that was going to happen. Running strong from the get-go, Silva was in third place after 14 laps and Hinton was in 10th. But on turn one of the 15th lap, Silva was forced off the track with a broken tie rod in his steering mechanism and never returned. "He (Silva) was really running strong, and I think he would have gotten me (the points title) had he not broke," Hinton said. "But like they say, that's racing." Silva's woes enabled Estremado, who went into the night 30 points behind Hinton and 18 behind Silva, to leapfrog Silva and take second in the point standings. Estremado took third in Saturday's race, behind James and runner-up Justin Holt. Hinton might have won the points title by a more-comfortable margin had he not wrecked badly at a race in Yreka, Calif., in mid-July. The accident ruined the rear end of Hinton's car and did major damage to the frame. "The car was never the same after that," he said. "It didn't handle as well and wasn't as fast." Jim Walker, Jr., meanwhile roared to his 11th victory of the summer in the pro stock division and put the finishing touches on his eighth points title in a brilliant 18-year career. Walker, 36, essentially retired after the 1998 season, citing burnout and wanting to spend more time with his wife and three young children. But he returned with renewed enthusiasm this summer after hooking up with a new crew chief, Randy Dodd. "He (Dodd) lives and breathes racing - I almost had to fix him an apartment in our shop, he's been there so often," Walker said. "We had to change motors three times this season and Randy got off work early each time and dove right in. He does all the dirty work that was burning me out a couple of years ago. "The other thing is, he's an excellent mechanic. He's very meticulous." Walker and Dodd built a new car over the winter, piecing together a Chevelle Chassis, a Buick station wagon rear end and a 383 Chevy engine. The car performed superbly all summer as Walker had eight trophy dash victories and 12 heat wins to go with his 11 victories. He also had five runner-up showings and one third - meaning he finished in the top three in 17 of 19 races. Walker started in the sixth row Saturday but moved into second by the 15th lap of the 25-lap event. And then, on the 16th lap, he flew around early leader Rick Norman racing to a yellow flag and was in command the rest of the way. "I went to the high side of the track, and the next thing I knew, I was in the lead," Walker said. Greg Staten won the dwarf car main event from green flag to checkered flag. Gary Fitzsimmons, who finished seventh, had the points title wrapped up going into the race. In the super trucks main event, Travis Holt zipped past Steve Pierce on the final lap, but Pierce finished high enough to secure the points title. Clarence Cole continued a late-season surge to take the mini stock main, while Tom Lanigan, who had the points title secured several weeks ago, took second. MODIFIED FIRST HEAT - 1, Brian Poppa. 2, Jeff Pottruff. 3, Justin Holt. 4, Lester Free. SECOND HEAT - 1, Randy Beck. 2, Carl Fitzsimmons. 3, Kevin Hewitt. 4, Dan Estremado. THIRD HEAT - 1, Dennis Silva. 2, Ron Possinger. 3, Scott Weldon. 4, Tom Glover. FOURTH HEAT - 1, Brad Alfrey. 2, Markey James. 3, Jay Hinton. 4, Dave Duste, Jr. TROPHY DASH - 1, Randy Beck. 2, Brian Poppa. 3, Dennis Silva. 4, Brad Alfrey. MAIN - 1, Markey James. 2, Justin Holt. 3, Dan Estremado. 4, Tom Glover. 5, Scott Weldon. 6, Jay Hinton. 7, Dave Duste, Jr. 8, Jeremy Richey. 9, Carl Fitzsimmons. 10, Kerry Stasio. 11, Brad Alfrey. 12, Ron Possinger. 13, Mark Wauge. 14, Jeff Pottruff. 15, Bruce Rayburn, Jr. 16, Kevin Hewitt. 17, Dennis Silva. 18, Brian Poppa. 19, Randy Beck. 20, Lester Free. PRO STOCKS FIRST HEAT - 1, Tony Walker. 2, Dan Thomas. 3, Tracy Bradley. 4, Jeff Seal. SECOND HEAT - Ray Kniffen, Jr. 2, Jim Walker, Jr. 3, Dave Everson. 4, Butch Poppa. THIRD HEAT - 1, Tom Glover. 2, Rick Hunsley. 3, Jerry Severson. 4, Mike Medell. FOURTH HEAT - 1, Frank Word, III. 2, Donn Johnston. 3, Chris Charlton. 4, Joe Guider. TROPHY DASH - 1, Tony Walker. 2, Frank Word III. 3, Ray Kniffen, Jr. B MAIN - 1, Billy Croucher. 2, Dave Satterfield. 3, Joe Guider. 4, Albert Gill. 5, Bob Fredrickson. 6, Donnie Hale. 7, Dan Randall. 8, Jeff Seal. 9, Bill Guyer. A MAIN - 1, Jim Walker, Jr. 2, Frank Word III. 3, Dave Everson. 4, Tom Glover. 5, Rick Hunsley. 6, Rick Norman. 7, Tony Walker. 8, Jerry Severson. 9, Tracy Bradley. 10, Butch Poppa. 11, Billy Croucher. 12, Donn Johnston. 13, Albert Gill. 14, Chris Charlton. 15, Mike Medell. 16, Dan Thomas. 17, Rick Norman. 18, Ray Kniffen, Jr. 19, Bob Frederickson. DWARFS FIRST HEAT - 1, Gary Fitzsimmons. 2, Mitch Sheeler. 3, Jessica Goodson. 4, Fred O'Nan. SECOND HEAT - 1, Travis Sousa. 2, Tom King. 3, Caleb Staten. 4, Greg Staten. TROPHY DASH - 1, Tom King. 2, Mitch Sheeler. 3, Gary Fitzsimmons. 4, Travis Sousa. MAIN - 1, Greg Staten. 2, Tom King. 3, Caleb Stringer. 4, Gary Fitzsimmons. 5, Jessica Goodson. 6, Rick Harms. 7, Jim Miller. 8, Fred O'Nan. 9, Bryan Benevente. 10, Robert Sousa. 11, Travis Sousa. 12, Mitch Sheeler. MINI STOCKS FIRST HEAT - 1, Mike Higbee. 2, Vicki MacCormick. 3, Tom Lanigan. 4, Larry Nelson. SECOND HEAT - 1, Tracy O'Calahan. 2, Pete Bass. 3, Jack Clement. 4, Michael Noce. THIRD HEAT - 1, Clarence Cole. 2, Jim Midwood. 3, Wayne Kniffen. 4, Gary Rinke. FOURTH HEAT - 1, Pat Akins. 2, Sam Dixon. 3, Pee Bowne. 4, Tim Couter. TROPHY DASH - 1, Clarence Cole. 2, Mike Higbee. 3, Pat Akins. 4, Tracy O'Callahan. B MAIN - 1, Josh Smith. 2, Sam Dixon. 3, Jamie Guider. 4, Randy Tharp. 5, Justin Breshears. 6, Jeremy Kappas. 7, Wesley Moore. 8, Tim Towler. 9, Kathryn Zinn. 10, Bert Ford. A MAIN - 1, Clarence Cole. 2, Tom Lanigan. 3, Mike Higbee. 4, Pete Bowne. 5, Tracy O'Callahan. 6, Wayne Kniffen. 7, Vicki MacCormick. 8, Jack Clement. 9, Larry Nelson. 10, Pete Bass. 11, Jaime Guider. 12, Michael Noce. 13, Tim Coulter. 14, Jeremy Kappas. 15, Gary Rinke. 16, Jim Midwood. 17, Justin Breshears. 18, Sam Dison. 19, Pat Akins. 20, Josh Smith. 21, Randy Tharp. SUPER TRUCKS HEAT RACE - 1, Travis Holt. 2, Greg Arnold. 3, Mark Pemberton. 4, Lindsay Bryant. TROPHY DASH - 1, Greg Arnold. 2, Brian Meriman. 3, Mark Pemberton. MAIN EVENT - 1, Travis Holt. 2, Steve Pierce. 3, Lindsey Bryant. 4, Brian Merriman. 5, Terry Townsend. 6, Merle Townsend. 7, Greg Arnold. 8, Matt Griffiths. 9, Mark Pemberton. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.